The words and images on this website can’t describe accurately the depth and breadth of what you will experience if you decide to join this tour after the exhibit and workshops in Gangjin.  We have worked to make this tour a very special experience for you and hope that you take advantage of this unusual opportunity.

The tour begins after the Gangjin workshops.

Day 1:  Min Young Ki is considered by some Korean and Japanese authorities to be the best teabowl artist in Asia.  He has received as much as $35000 USD per teabowl.  He is a very gracious man and will have some affordable work.

The Gimhae Clay Arch Museum is a new international ceramic arts complex focusing on architectural ceramics. A great stop, please check their web site to see what they have planned.

The Gimhae National Museum has fantastic 1500 year old and older work.  This is the ancient Kaya area that influenced Japanese ceramics 1500 years ago and gave rise to Japan’s  ancient pottery villages of Tamba, Bizen and Shigaraki.  Those Japanese villages used the anagama - Korea’s sloping kiln.  Kaya Korea influenced Japan’s Sueki or Sue ware that led to the use of the anagama and the founding of these ancient Japanese pottery villages.   In the beginning the Japanese work was direct copies of the Korean work.

Day 2:  Ulsan is an ancient onggi village with nine human cultural treasures, great kilns and a fascinating history that can really trace its roots from the first pot made in Korea.  We all know their large storage jars but many kinds of smaller ware are also produced.

Day 3:  Park Byung Teak is one of Korea’s HCT’s in Silla style ware continuing the ancient tradition of the type of ware produced in the Gimhae and Gyeongju areas during the Three Kingdom period.  He has promised to demonstrate for us.  Incidentally, even though he is a culture treasure his work is not expensive.  The city of Gyeongju, where he lives, is Korea’s ancient capitol and perhaps Korea’s most important historic city with many attractions, temples and another National Museum that, like Gimhae, houses some great older work including great sculptural vessels. We will visit Bulguk-sa (temple) and Seokgur-am Grotto.  Search for them on the web.

Day 4: Park Jong Il’s studio is high in the mountains.  He built his home and teahouse gallery from raw clay he dug and logs he helped to cut.  A great teabowl potter, this is where you can get a really good teabowl for only $100 USD not $1000 or $5000.  He also speaks English so we will have the opportunity to speak directly and ask about his kiln, philosophy and work. 

Day 4 cont:  The Mungyeong Teabowl Village is the home of at least two HCT’s Kim Jong Ok and Chan Han Bong.  Kim is known for his porcelain and Chosen Dynasty type work (a cup is $30 USD a small Bottle $50 teabowls $3000-$7000 USD), Chan Han Bong is known for his teabowls that do run about $1000-$5000 each but smaller items can be much less.  We will visit other wonderful tea ware artists in this 1000-year old potter’s village.  During the “Pottery War” Japan invaded Korea and took as prisoners about 2000 ceramic artists to Japan.  There they worked for warlords and established many pottery villages that remain in Japan today.  The Korean potters established villages, like Hagi, Arita and others in Japan.  During that war (1592-1596 CE) the Japanese army camped at Mungyeong and took many potters from this area.  We’ll tell you more about this fascinating story on the tour.

Day 5: Then we move to Icheon and Yeoju, both great pottery villages during the Yi or Chosen Dynasty  (1392-1910 CE).  Each village has between 500 and 900 potters each.  Obviously we won’t meet  them all but you will meet some great porcelain and buncheong potters and visit the WOCEK museums in Icheon and Yeoju  We will also visit the HCT onggi potter Kim Il Mann and his cultural treasure kiln (slides 2,3,4 & 5 in the kiln slide show).  (Incidentally, slide 1, [in the kiln show], is of a very old Mungyeong kiln owned by the Kim Jong Ok family mentioned earlier.) 

Day 6,7, 8: Seoul:  Our goal in this tour is to cover the full spectrum of Korean ceramics including onggi, Silla, celadon, porcelain, buncheong, tea ware and contemporary artists.  While we will see a contemporary artist or two on the way around Korea we will also see one or two in Seoul.  There you will also visit two of Korea’s great Museums the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art.  MUSEUM 1 of Leeum is devoted to the exhibition of traditional Korean artwork.  MUSEUM 2 of Leeum showcases modern and contemporary works by both Korean and foreign artists.  It was established by the Samsung Foundation of Culture and houses a significant collection.  We will also visit the National Museum of Art, one of the premier museum of arts in the world.  We will be staying at the Somerset Palace just steps away from Insadong one of Korea’s most important art areas.  There you will find great galleries, shops, food and even a palace.

This is a great tour at an unbelievable price for August which the height of the tourist, season.

We hope that you will join us.  

of the Tour

Available for Selected Artists